Philippine external debt in the first quarter declined 4 percent on year to 52.5 billion U.S. dollars on foreign exchange adjustments and higher investment in the country's debt papers, the Philippine central bank reported Tuesday.
External debt refers to all types of borrowings by Philippine residents from non-residents that were approved and registered by the central bank.
Philippine central bank governor Amando M. Tetangco, Jr said major external debt indicators "remained at prudent levels" in the first three months of the year, reining in the rise of debt stock, and stabilizing the country's debt-to-GDP ratio at 32.3 percent.
This is the lowest debt- to-GDP ratio recorded since it peaked in 1986 at 97.7 percent.
The debt stock declined in the first quarter on negative foreign exchange revaluation adjustment, largely due to the weakening of the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar. The public sector accounts for 75 percent of external debt and most of which were yen-denominated debts.
Residents' investments in Philippine debt papers issued abroad increased by about 540 million U.S. dollars and helped reduced the external debt stock.
Multilateral institutions and bilateral creditors have the largest exposures, accounting for 45 percent of the Philippine debt stock.
Gross international reserves (GIR) stood at 39 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter, bringing the ratio of reserves to short-term external debt to six based on original maturity.
Source: Xinhua
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